Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Camp Books--Part 2

Update: I now leave for camp in only two days. Whoa. So, here's part two of my perhaps-unattainably-long camp book list. Oh well. New motto: one can never have too many summer reads. Without any further ado, here are the final nine.
10. Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison.
11. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I took a Buzzfeed quiz on "Which Classic Female Author Are You" and I got Toni Morrison, so if you ask me that's more than enough inclination that I'll love this book.
12. The Last Girlfriend on Earth and Other Love Stories by Simon Rich. Title story: God struggles with balancing his job (creating the world) with his girlfriend (evidently demanding). Everything about this book suggests hilarity, which in this litany of classics is definitely going to be welcome.
13. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Blunt. Two people come together after the man they both loved dies of AIDS. I'm calling this as most-recommendable novel of the summer. (Too early? Nah...)
14. The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath.
15. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. In terms of sheer sum of character-plot excitement, this book has a lot of fun in store. Futuristic fright + government conspiracy + lovable punk main character + a slang dialect, Nadsat, which I look forward to annoying co opting = apparently, this book. Too good to be true? I hope not.
16. Iris Has Free Time by Iris Smyles. This book is "subtle, complicated, funny, bold, sad and wise." All that and the cover has a tutu-wearing girl on it who I think I already love.
17. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.
18. And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. According to a hilarious back cover photo of the two authors wrestling, these Beats seem to have been good friends. Add that dynamic to an urban murder mystery, and you have great bedtime reading material!
And now, I must bid you all adieu for seven weeks. Not to worry--I will be reading away in my cabin, and I look forward to providing an account of (hopefully) all eighteen books. Have a readilicious summer, everyone!